


Parthenogenesis

by PangurBan24601



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Childbirth, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Loss of Bodily Autonomy, Nonbinary Character, Other, Reptilian Shapeshifter Species, Unplanned Pregnancy, Whump, asexual reproduction, bizarre alien biology, mentions of transgender characters, mild body horror, rapid pregnancy, some ptsd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:21:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26073361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PangurBan24601/pseuds/PangurBan24601
Summary: While Double Trouble is in captivity at Queen Glimmer's palace, they discover that their body has finally betrayed them. With them being a member of an all-female reptilian shapeshifter species, this was always bound to happen. They struggle to cope with the loss of their bodily autonomy as well as lingering memories of forced experimentation. Will they be able to trust Glimmer enough to let her help?
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25





	Parthenogenesis

**Author's Note:**

> So, how do shapeshifters come to be? Well, considering Double Trouble's favorite form is reptilian, I figured they must be a humanoid version of Aspidoscelis neomexicanus. So this fic happened. Sorry.

_7:12am_

Double Trouble felt it when their cells began to shift without impulse or warning.

It didn’t hurt or anything; in fact, it felt as natural as it always had. Except that this time it was entirely unintentional. Within moments they lost nearly six inches in height and their shoulders became narrower and more rounded while their hips became slightly wider. Their heart began to pound with terror.

It had finally happened. But _why now?_

They looked around at the decadent room they were imprisoned in. Queen Glimmer was far from cruel; she had put Double Trouble in what could only be called the world’s most luxurious jail cell. It didn’t change the fact that Double Trouble was a prisoner. And they were unaccustomed to captivity. They were unaccustomed to anything that involved loss of autonomy. Shapeshifters were supposed to be the very _picture_ of autonomy.

It was a nice perk of Double Trouble’s reptilian race that they could physically exist in nearly any shape and size they wanted to—save for the brief amount of time necessary for reproduction. Pregnancy was the only time in their people’s life where bodily autonomy was lost, and it was a terrifying process as a result, heightened by the fact that they did not choose to go through it. It just… _happened._ Earlier for some, later for others, and not at all for the lucky ones. At least, Double Trouble would call them lucky. It was not unheard of for the Barren to mourn what they lacked. Barren or Fertile, it was _choice_ that their race longed for and could never realistically have.

Double Trouble took several gulps of air and tried to transform back. Shapeshifting was as easy as breathing to them; it shouldn’t have even taken a conscious effort. But now it felt like their mind was smacking into a brick wall with no way through or around it. They were trapped in a beautiful slender form that would not be slender for long. The pregnancy would be rapid—gestation rarely lasted more than a day—but the birth…That was something none of their race had ever been able to accurately predict.

 _“Three days I labored for you,”_ their father had told them more than a decade ago. He had truly suffered when Double Trouble was born, forced into an entirely feminine form. Father had been anything but feminine. What a shock it must have been to undergo the most difficult physical ordeal of his life in a form so much smaller and weaker than the one he lived in daily. Double Trouble should count themself lucky—no, _screw that._ This was in no way fair.

Their eyes filled with tears and they went to go curl up in a ball at the edge of the room, one hand on their smooth, flat belly. They absolutely adored their slender, lithe, _chosen_ form. It wouldn’t be long before it began to swell.

 _It’s only for a day or two. You can share your body for that long,_ they tried to reason with themself. _You’ve always known this day might come._ But why did it have to come while they were in captivity? They brought their hands to their face and began to openly sob for the first time in years. They _hated_ the thing inside them, coldly forcing itself into existence with no thought for its unwilling vessel. And they hated themself for hating their own child.

* * *

_8:30am_

_“Breakfast!”_ Glimmer called, knocking at the door to the containment room. There was no response. She frowned. It wasn’t like Double Trouble to pass up a chance flex their unmatched wit. Glimmer unlocked the door and slowly opened it. She glanced around the room and was surprised to discover her prisoner curled up at the corner of a sofa and the wall, eyes open and unblinking.

“Double Trouble? You all right?” She set the tray of food down on the floor and cautiously approached.

Double Trouble blinked once and their tongue slithered from their mouth to moisten one eye. Glimmer shivered in disgust. Double Trouble winked.

“Did you think I was dead?” they asked with a wide smile.

“No,” Glimmer said, defensively. “I just expected to find you stretched out on your favorite chair.”

“Got tired of it. It’s warmer over here.”

“Oh. I’ll…I’ll have some heated blankets sent for you. I’m sorry, I didn’t even consider—”

“That I’m a cold-blooded reptile? Darling, _please._ You know I don’t have to be a lizard unless I want to.”

Glimmer eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “So why are you?”

Double Trouble’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly.

“Because I _like_ it. What does it matter to you?” they snapped.

Glimmer had never heard them speak so emotionally before.

“I guess it doesn’t,” she mumbled back, deciding she’d have some blankets sent up anyway.

She turned to leave, but found herself looking back briefly. Double Trouble seemed somehow smaller all balled up like that in the corner. She shook her head, blinking. There was no point feeling sorry for Double Trouble. Glimmer was already practicing a truth spell to forcefully interrogate them. Shadow Weaver would have her ready as early as lunch.

* * *

_11:21am_

Double Trouble finished heaving up the contents of their stomach into the small, cushioned storage cube, eyes watering from the strain. They brought their wrist to their mouth, grimacing. The nausea just would not go away, and the blankets that had been sent to the room weren’t helping. They smelled strongly of _flowers_ of all things. That alone might have been enough to make them vomit even without this sudden bout of morning sickness.

They glanced at the clock on the wall. Twenty hours more or less to go. They needed to stop looking at that damned clock.

They absently rubbed at their stomach. It was still flat. Maybe there was no baby after all and they had just eaten something that didn’t agree with them. Perhaps there was another explanation for why they were trapped in this shorter, more feminine form. They would know soon enough.

* * *

_12:06pm_

“Does this usually take so long?” Double Trouble asked in their most bored tone of voice.

Glimmer was back, and with Shadow Weaver in tow. It seemed the young queen was dead set on casting a truth spell. It wasn’t going well, and Double Trouble could tell that their taunts were more effective than they had any right to be in breaking Glimmer’s concentration.

They shifted slightly on the large armchair they were lounging in. They had to be careful to slouch a bit, lest their small change in height and shape be noticed. It soon became clear that they needn’t have bothered; Glimmer’s concentration was solely on the spell. With a snarl of rage, she hurled the spell circle toward Double Trouble. The circle felt like ice as it passed through Double Trouble’s body, but they didn’t notice any other effects on their body or mind. Still, they couldn’t pass up a chance to play their expected role. Their eyes widened in mock-surprise.

“Tell me everything you know about the Horde’s plans,” Glimmer demanded.

“Yes. I can resist no longer,” Double Trouble said, their voice purposefully strained. “I shall tell you the truth…”

The nausea suddenly returned, and their heart began to pound with both fear and impending sickness. They stumbled out of the chair and threw the top cover off of another ottoman cube. _If only there was a way to discreetly vomit,_ Double Trouble vaguely thought as they began to heave involuntarily into the expensive piece of furniture.

“What the—?” Glimmer stammered, looking back and forth from Shadow Weaver to Double Trouble.

Shadow Weaver put her palms up and shrugged. “Magic can have unexplained side-effects. It’s not unheard of for a spell to affect the target’s stomach.”

“So I did it wrong,” Glimmer said, defeated.

“I’m afraid so,” Shadow Weaver confirmed. “Perhaps you might want to try again later.”

Glimmer nodded, her fists balled up with frustration. “Double Trouble?”

The shapeshifter glanced back at the queen, their yellow eyes wet and tinged with red.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to make you sick,” Glimmer said, her eyes downcast. “I won’t try the spell again until I’m positive it will work.”

“How noble,” Double Trouble sneered. “God forbid you should _hurt_ your enemy while forcing your way into their mind.”

“I _am_ sorry,” Glimmer said. “I never meant to cause you pain.”

She and Shadow Weaver left without another word, and several guards came in minutes later to clean up the mess.

Double Trouble ignored them and curled back up in their new favorite spot at the corner of the sofa and the wall, their hand falling back to their belly. It felt slightly rounded. They clenched their teeth in a sudden swell of rage and without thinking pressed the sharp claws of their fingers into the soft flesh. They yelped in surprise at the sudden pain and looked down to see four small dots of blood seeping through the thin fabric of their skin-tight clothing.

_And what’s that supposed to accomplish, you idiot? If you had the nerve to kill it you would have done it already._

No, they wouldn’t kill it. They didn’t know what they would do with it, but it was too late to kill it.

They found themself wondering what their father would say if he could see them now.

 _“I was just glad to have you, Ascala. I waited years for you, you know,”_ he used to say.

Father had named them “Ascala” when they were born. Of all their people’s traditional names, it was probably the most neutral sounding. Their father knew better than most that being a member of an all-female shapeshifting race meant that a child’s identity and name would likely change as they matured and grew into themselves. The care their father had put into their name was one of the reasons they still used it in those rare times when they visited the remnant of their people.

Father had been one of the lucky ones who had both wanted and received offspring. Double Trouble supposed that made them lucky too. Luckier than this poor soul now growing within them.

* * *

_1:00pm_

Double Trouble was starving— _literally_ —by the time lunch was finally brought to them. Their cheeks were already hollowing and they could feel their thin skin clinging more tightly to their bones. Shapeshifters needed to eat as much as they could keep down during their whirlwind pregnancies or risk their progeny sapping up all of their strength. They would need that strength to give birth.

Double Trouble waited impatiently for the guard to leave before snatching up the small loaf of bread and almost choking on their first bite of it.

 _Go slowly,_ they reminded themself. _You can’t risk throwing up again._ They began pulling smaller pieces of bread off the loaf, being careful to chew them thoroughly before swallowing.

 _For you, little sapling,_ they thought, proud of themself for their little play on words.

They were halfway through a hunk of hard cheese when they were struck with another wave of nausea.

_Breathe. Swallow. Keep breathing. Don’t throw up, don’t throw up…_

They squeezed their eyes shut, heart pounding again. They needed this food to live. They _both_ needed it.

The nausea finally passed, and Double Trouble resumed their meal. It was reasonably large; no one could accuse Queen Glimmer of starving her prisoners, but they were still famished even when the food was gone. Was it worth it to ask for more, or would it be too suspicious? They almost laughed. What did it matter if their captors found out?

_White walls. Loud machines. Cold, metal tools. Needles._

They shook their head, trying to force the bad thoughts out. These captors were different. They had never shown any interest in Double Trouble’s physiology, only in their knowledge of the enemy. There was no reason to fear it would happen again. Queen Glimmer wouldn’t care if she discovered she had a pregnant shapeshifter in captivity.

 _“This one isn’t pregnant either. Possibly too young. We’ll just have to get what we can out of it.”_ The woman in the white coat had always spoken into that voice recorder as if no one else could hear her calling a sentient being “ _it._ ” She was the one who had ordered the full buffet of samples; blood, urine, skin, organ tissue, bone marrow. Eggs.

Double Trouble could still hear the screams from the room across from theirs.

_“It’s not strong enough to survive labor; we’ll have to cut its child out. What a waste. Call me once you have the neonate in hand.”_

Double Trouble’s eyes were wide open, tears gathering in them and falling onto the empty plate on the floor.

_I can’t let them find out._

They clutched at their ripening belly—they could definitely feel a small swell there now. _It’s all right, little sapling. I won’t let that happen to us._ They surely didn’t _love_ the parasite currently sucking up all their vital nutrients and leaving them weakened and anemic, but there was no denying they were in this together, for better or worse. And for what it was worth, they were sorry. No one deserved to come into the world unloved.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, let me know if you liked it!


End file.
